This invention relates to a system for transporting yarn packages from a textile machine, such as an open-end spinning machine, onto a transport conveyor such that the packages fall by gravity thereon without making contact with each other and are uniformly spaced on the transport conveyor at a predetermined distance from one another.
Various systems for transporting yarn packages are known in the art. Endless conveyor belts, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,920 are a common means for transporting yarn packages from a textile machine to a subsequent station, such as a container. U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,712 teaches a means for correcting orientation of yarn packages after they have already been placed onto a conveyor belt. Other types of transporting systems include a package gripper with expanding means, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,261, and the overhead automated conveying system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,360.
While the foregoing transporting systems may be deemed suitable for their respective intended purposes, none of these systems teach any means for transporting packages from a machine onto a conveyor, let alone a means which would uniformly space yarn packages from one another along the conveyor. Furthermore, all of these systems utilize complex automated machinery, comprised of a large number of moving components. Consequently, such machinery is expensive to operate and maintain and is subject to an increased risk of failure.